NJPW G1 CLIMAX 27, 7/20/17 (Day 2)
Tokyo Korakuen Hall
Initial reaction while watching live review of Day 2’s G1 matches. Let’s see if this can top Day 1.
G1 Climax – Block B: Satoshi Kojima [0] vs. Juice Robinson [0]
Kojima gives Juice a lariat that sends him over the top rope and let’s get this thing started. After a DDT on the ring apron Juice goes on the offensive on the outside and begins the Kojima beatdown with a near fall or two before Kojima lands an elbow to the face and Juice is down. One thousand chops later Juice gets a near-fall, Kojima hits the Koji cutter but no cover because he over-sells to hell the damage done by Juice. Juice goes to the top but Kojima throws an elbow that leaves Juice hanging off the top rope. A Koji cutter off the top rope ?? Random. Kojima removes the elbow pad and Juice blocks two lariats before taking one straight to the face and now we have something going on. BURAINBASSSTAAAAA. And Kojima doesn’t hook the leg so this thing continues. Another blocked lariat, and another lariat to the face and HOW DID HE KICK OUT. Crowd is going crazy for Koji and here we goooooo. Juice blocks ANOTHER lariat and throws a straight punch to the face before hitting the PULPU FURICTION and covering for the 1, 2, 3. This got pretty damn awesome towards the end and damn I wanted more. ***1/4
G1 Climax – Block B: Michael Elgin [0] vs. Tama Tonga [0]
After the shoot Tonga gave at the G1 press conference he needs to step up in this one. Tonga begins the match running around the ring like a monkey and Elgin isn’t having it. We go to the outside and Elgin gets a beatdown but back in the ring Tonga can’t handle the grizzly man. A couple German suplexes and a stiff kick to the face later it looks like Tonga isn’t gonna survive but he ducks a lariat and hits a reverse DDT to buy himself some time to recover. Elgin counters just about everything thrown at him and Tonga goes for a quick cover before going on the offensive. Another near fall by Tonga and he stalks his prey… but Elgin again is not having it. We get the elbow pad removal but he can’t land the lariat and ends up on the ring apron after a dropkick. Elgin tries to dive over the top rope back in the ring but Tonga with the GUN STUN. We head to the top rope and Elgin goes for the Northern Lights suplex and Tonga reverses into a GUN STUN off the top rope before pinning him for the win. This was pretty disjointed for me for some reason. **1/2
G1 Climax – Block B: SANADA [0] vs. EVIL [0]
Other than Minoru/Kenny I was looking forward to this one the most. We get a handshake and now it’s on! Chairs are in the ring within 5 seconds and Red Shoes goes down within 10. EVIL knocks SANADA over the top rope and puts a chair over SANADA’s head before lighting him up so hard with a nother chair that the one on SANADA’s head goes FLYING and I’m pretty sure knocks out a cameraman. I can safely say I’ve never seen that before and I’ve been to a ton of shitty CZW shows. We’re back in the ring and SANADA is making his comeback. He wraps EVIL’s arms around his own legs and poses on top of him like a champ. We almost get a double countout on the outside after a top rope TKO by SANADA. SANADA takes a nasty lariat and kicks out after a 1 count and EVIL is PISSED. SANADA lands a TKO for a near fall and the crowd is getting into this now. EVIL sends SANADA to the MOON with a lariat and after a few counters SANADA with a sweet bridging Tiger suplex and then some more reversals and EVIL is done with this but he can’t land ANYTHING and SANADA takes him right down to the mat with the Skull End. Time to breath. EVIL isn’t tapping. We have ourselves a match here folks. Or maybe not. SANADA hits a quebrada from the top rope and this thing is over. DAMN it was just starting to get good too. I need much, much more of this and I have a feeling we will get that someday. ***1/4
G1 Climax – Block B: Kazuchika Okada [0] vs. Toru Yano [0]
YTR attempts his antics but Gedo is not having it and keeps Yano in the ring. Okada says this guy is a joke and tries to walk out but Jado stops him and Yano comes in from behind. Toru tries untying the turnbuckle but Okada ties it right back up. Crowd chants hard for YANO TORU while Okada plays the badass and gets boo’ed. Toru finally gets that turnbuckle untied and smacks Okada over the face with it. Okada is sent into the exposed turnbuckle and Yano is doing everything he can to avoid Okada’s offense. We head to the outside where Gedo and Jado get involved and everyone ends up getting hit in the nuts and we almost get a double countout but Okada and Toru roll back in the ring clutching their jewels. Yano nearly pins Okada a couple times until Okada applies Red Ink for the tap-out. I wasn’t expecting much more than that. Still… Okada, Yano, fun times. **
G1 Climax – Block B: Minoru Suzuki [0] vs. Kenny Omega [0]
Minoru is being is usual badass self. We end up on the outside and Kenny goes to the top of the guardrail but Minoru kicks it in so Kenny falls and now the beatdown in the crowd begins. Kenny takes a chair to the knee which probably isn’t as bad as an arrow to the knee because he comes right back and begins smashing the shit out of Minoru’s head with a chair before limping back into the ring. Kenny sells the shit out of that knee through everything. He goes for the V-Trigger but nails Red Shoes in the face before connecting with one on Minoru. SUZUKI-GUN enters the ring and with no referee we get a beatdown of Kenny and this is turning to a shit show real quick. BADO LAKKU FALEE comes to the rescue and Kenny is left in the ring with Minoru who is still dead. Kenny heads to the top and is now more worried about SUZUKI-GUN on the outside than Minoru who is slowly regaining consciousness. Kenny off the top rope but Minoru catches him right into a leg hold, applying more pressure to the injured knee. Minoru wants Kenny to TAP as he doesn’t let Kenny reach the ropes, dragging him back to the center of the ring. Finally a rope break but Kenny can do nothing but bitch-slap Minoru and he gets it back ten-fold. Minoru screams like a mad man after Kenny lands a backdrop and we’re right back to Minoru destroying that knee and slapping the everloving shit out of Kenny. We get a stiff trade that ends with a V-Trigger knee to Minoru’s face and a Dragon suplex for a near fall. Minoru reverses into another leg hold. Then two sleeper holds are ineffective and Kenny hits another V-Trigger but the injured knee can’t put enough damage on Suzuki. Kenny goes for the reverse frankensteiner but can barely land it. Pretty sure he botched that. He hits ANOTHER V-TRIGGER and then the Katayaku no Tenshi for the abrupt finish and victory. Some stuff here didn’t make much sense to me like why Kenny’s first V-Trigger put Minoru out for 5 years, but subesquent ones were barely enough to keep him on the mat. Kenny’s selling of the knee was great and he tried to save the botched reverse frankensteiner by writhing in pain and clutching his knee on the mat, but still sloppy. Good stuff by both overall but I don’t think the interference added much of anything to to the match for me either. ***1/4
Final Thoughts: This show had some good stuff in Juice/Kojima and EVIL/SANADA (which is on my re-watch list) but I was pretty underwhelmed by the just about everything else. I was expecting much more. Okada/Yano was fun for what it was and probably what it had to be but Elgin/Tonga was a huge disappointment and while not a bad match – Minoru/Kenny was killed by the pointless SKGN-BC garbage and a sloppy finishing sequence that to me didn’t really make any sense.
